Shaking up the Football League - A Bury FC Story.

Hello and welcome to my first story of Football Manager 13! I did a couple of stories in previous games and will be looking to update this at least three times a week but it may drop to once a week when I go back to university and the work starts again. Thanks for reading and here’s the story!

Reign Over : Blackwell has resigned due to personal reasons.
Kevin Blackwell has resigned as Bury manager with personal reasons believed to be the reason behind his decision.

The club understands Blackwell’s decision to resign and have moved fast in appointing his replacement. Chairman Brian Fenton has taken the decision to employ Youth Coach Michael Henson as interim manager until he can find a suitable replacement for Blackwell.

Henson has gone on record as saying that he hopes to impress the board during the season and get the job on a permanent basis. He expects the senior players to step up to the mark and assist the younger players’ development. Henson has a huge number of contacts within the game having studied Sports Journalism at university and working at various clubs during that period.

Quote from Michael Henson
“Bury are my home town team and I have supported them from a young age. I will be looking to do all I can in getting them into the Championship where we once were many years ago, maybe even repeat the FA Cup successes of 1900 and 1903.”

Bury have a very limited squad as they have fierce competition from local rivals for the decent young players and limited finances to expand their squad. There is plenty of dead wood in the squad which needs to be disposed of and I will be looking to do that in the two transfer windows this season. However, they have got a few good players who have been round the blocks as bit such as David Healy and Efe Sodje but also have a good mix of good young players like David Worrall and Joe Skarz.

Bury have got two main goalkeepers on their books, Trevor Carson and Cameron Belford. Carson will be the number one this year as he is a better all-round goalkeeper but I will be looking to utilise Belford in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and against lesser opponents in the Carling Cup and FA Cup. Christian Dibble, son of former Manchester City goalkeeper Andy, is also on Bury’s books and I will be including him in some match day squads and may introduce him into the team towards the end of the season.

The defenders in the squad are of a decent standard and could do with some reinforcements. New signing Adam Lockwood will be at the heart of the defence as he is the strongest defender whilst Joe Skarz will be employed at left back as he is the only left back in the squad. Mark Hughes will partner Lockwood in the centre back position and looks like he will be a good squad player. The right back area is pretty weak as Phil Picken and Andrai Jones seem like they will not be up to League One standard and I will be looking to invest in this area. Veteran defender Efe Sodje will provide excellent cover for the defence as he can play in a variety of positions but that is about it for cover as young defender Jordan Melia is a Blue Square Premier player judging by his stats.

The centre of midfield is very strong with four players available for selection. Captain Steven Schumacher will be at the heart of midfield will Peter Sweeney with cover provided by Irish midfielder Shane Byrne and Mark Carrington who are both adequate replacements should the first choice two get injured or suspended. David Worrall will make the right midfield position his own and will be a key player throughout the season with Craig Jones and Marcus Marshall being deployed on the left hand side of midfield.

Bury have four strikers available for selection but I think the main two will be David Healy and Mark Cullen with the firepower on the bench coming from Lateef Elford-Alliyu and Lenell John-Lewis even though the latter is a weak option. The second two may be employed in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy as I look to give Healy and Cullen a rest as the league will take priority. Young striker Tom Pratt will push through the ranks during the season and I will include him in the squad in some less important games. Andy Bishop and Shaun Harrad are out on loan but Bishop will be back in January and I will put him straight in the starting line-up whilst I will be looking to sell Harrad next summer.

I brought in a few players in the summer transfer window to ensure that my squad was capable of fighting for League One survival and not fading into the relegation zone early on in the season.

In

The first addition was left midfielder Daniel Redmond, who was brought in on a free from Wigan Athletic. Redmond is the son of former Shakers legend Steve Redmond and was brought in as a first choice left midfielder as Marcus Marshall was ineffective in that position. He has good stats for a young 21 year old and is a great acquisition on a free transfer. I will be looking for him to take on the full backs and provide good service for the two strikers.

The second player brought in to the Shakers squad was full back Matt Doherty. He has great stats for a right back that has not played much first team football since his arrival from the Irish leagues. He was brought in on a season long loan from Wolves with Bury paying for 50% of his wages. Bury have him on loan from Wolves in real life and he has impressed me this year and will go on to big things. His stats match his performances for us this season and I am delighted to bring him in.

The third player brought in was another free transfer, experienced striker James Beattie joined Bury on a contract until 2015 and will play as a striker with David Healy. With them two up front, I am hoping for a lot of goals this season as they have a good track record with previous clubs. If either of them get tired, I can bring in Elford-Alliyu as the former West Brom man will be able to replace them as he has similar stats but ten years younger.

Out

The only player heading out of the door permanently is Phil Picken as he departs to Gillingham for a fee of £20,000. He wasn’t good enough for the squad and was on quite a high wage for someone who wouldn’t play for me this season. With Doherty coming in, he had no future as Andrai Jones is a young player who will hopefully improve in the next few years and will provide cover for Doherty in this season.

Two young players headed out on loan in the form of Max Harrop and Luke McCarthy. Both went on season long loans to Stockport County and Guiseley respectively. They are nowhere near first team standard yet and have gone on loan for first team experience to boost their development.

Another departure at Gigg Lane saw Mark Cullen return to Hull after his loan was terminated. We were paying £1,000 a week of his wages and I thought that was too much for someone who wasn’t really that good. After I pulled off the transfer of James Beattie, I sent him back as Beattie is only on £700 more than what we were paying for Cullen.

i've got a Bury story going as well... you should check it out. Just to let you know Lateef Elford-Alliyu is absolutly clinical in the poacher role... bagged 40 goals this season in all comps! will keep an eye on this.

i've got a Bury story going as well... you should check it out. Just to let you know Lateef Elford-Alliyu is absolutly clinical in the poacher role... bagged 40 goals this season in all comps! will keep an eye on this.

Cheers mate, will do. Healy has just been injured for 4-5 weeks so Lateef will be playing in the poacher role now, hope he can grab some goals.

The tactic I will be using for this story will be JP’s simple & solid 442 & counter version which can be found here. I believe this tactic is perfect for me as I have used it before and it employs a flat 442 system which allows the wingers to get forward and pump balls into the box. I hope that it will provide me with a solid structure which will allow me to get a lot of possession and not be dominated by the bigger teams in the division.

As I have said in previous posts, Trevor Carson is the starting goalkeeper for me with Cameron Belford on the bench as back-up. Left back for me is Joe Skarz but I have no cover for him so if he is injured I will have to bring in youth team player Levi Clarke. The centre half pairing is Adam Lockwood and Mark Hughes with loanee Matt Doherty completing the back four. I believe that this is a solid back four and will give me plenty of clean sheets in the league. The midfield four is made up of new signing Daniel Redmond, Peter Sweeney, Steven Schumacher and key player David Worrall. The wingers have a bit of pace which they will use to attack the full backs and get the crosses into the middle to create plenty of chances. Sweeney and Schumacher will be employed as the deep lying playmakers, spraying the ball out wide for the wingers but also look to get the strikers moving with defence splitting passes. The strikers are David Healy and James Beattie. On paper it is a very powerful strike force which should get a lot of goals but in reality they are similar players that can be used as a poacher but they don’t have pace – which is the only problem.
Pre-Season Results

It was a disappointing start to the season as the cup defeat stopped us from gaining some extra income and a possible big team at home in the next round. We played well in the game but Middlesbrough was more clinical. The first league game of the season was awful as we were hammered 4-0 but is understandable as it was the first league game they played together and they are getting used to the target. The first league win came against Portsmouth and was a good one as it was a rotated squad from the first game as Elford-Alliyu was brought in for the injured David Healy and didn’t disappoint as he grabbed a goal. The game against Preston rounded off an even month and the performances have been of a decent standard and they will continually improve as the team gets used to the tactic.

League Table

Upcoming Fixtures
01.09.12 – League One versus MK Dons
08.09.12 – League One versus Carlisle
11.09.12 – League One versus Tranmere
15.09.12 – League One versus Walsall
18.09.12 – League One versus Notts County
22.09.12 – League One versus Stevenage
29.09.12 – League One versus Yeovil

Unlucky for the 1st couple of matches. Probably for the best you are out of the C1 cup, i was playing 10 games a month for November and December and it killed the players. Have you had a look at what youths are available on loan? i managed to get a couple of cracking ones from Liverpool. KIU

Well i can recommend Andre Wisdom if he is available, if not Derrick Williams from Villa. Also Andrai Jones did good in place for Lockwood and kept him out of the team, but Hughes is a rock at the back